diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index c25047df2..fdec0338e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Nmap Changelog ($Id$); -*-text-*-
 
+o Since assert() calls are used for various security-related tests,
+  their safety is now ensured by keeping NDEBUG undefined throughout
+  Nmap, Nbase and Nsock. [Kris]
+
 Nmap 4.62 [5/3/08]
 
 o Added a new --min-rate option that allows specifying a minimum rate
diff --git a/NmapOutputTable.h b/NmapOutputTable.h
index 68352659f..ba55df072 100644
--- a/NmapOutputTable.h
+++ b/NmapOutputTable.h
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
 #ifndef NMAPOUTPUTTABLE_H
 #define NMAPOUTPUTTABLE_H
 
-#include <assert.h>
+#include "nmap.h"
 
 #ifndef __attribute__
 #define __attribute__(args)
diff --git a/libdnet-stripped/libdnet-stripped.vcproj b/libdnet-stripped/libdnet-stripped.vcproj
index c9598e646..8027dbb47 100755
--- a/libdnet-stripped/libdnet-stripped.vcproj
+++ b/libdnet-stripped/libdnet-stripped.vcproj
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 				AdditionalOptions="/D &quot;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE&quot;"
 				Optimization="0"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories="include;&quot;..\mswin32\pcap-include&quot;"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				MinimalRebuild="true"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
 				RuntimeLibrary="1"
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
 				AdditionalOptions="/D &quot;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE&quot;"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories="include;&quot;..\mswin32\pcap-include&quot;"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				RuntimeLibrary="0"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
 				WarningLevel="3"
diff --git a/liblua/liblua.vcproj b/liblua/liblua.vcproj
index 008cc3ddc..89bc37ec1 100644
--- a/liblua/liblua.vcproj
+++ b/liblua/liblua.vcproj
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 				UseUnicodeResponseFiles="false"
 				AdditionalOptions="/D &quot;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE&quot;"
 				Optimization="0"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				MinimalRebuild="true"
 				ExceptionHandling="0"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="0"
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
 				UseUnicodeResponseFiles="false"
 				AdditionalOptions="/D &quot;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE&quot;"
 				WholeProgramOptimization="false"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				MinimalRebuild="false"
 				ExceptionHandling="0"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="0"
diff --git a/libpcre/libpcre.vcproj b/libpcre/libpcre.vcproj
index 4cb4c6d3e..a11e12501 100644
--- a/libpcre/libpcre.vcproj
+++ b/libpcre/libpcre.vcproj
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
 				Optimization="0"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				MinimalRebuild="true"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
 				RuntimeLibrary="1"
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
 			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_LIB"
 				RuntimeLibrary="0"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
 				WarningLevel="3"
diff --git a/mswin32/nmap.vcproj b/mswin32/nmap.vcproj
index ce1e2f069..00b250601 100644
--- a/mswin32/nmap.vcproj
+++ b/mswin32/nmap.vcproj
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
 				Optimization="0"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories="..\liblua;.;..;../nbase;../libpcre;winip;..\nsock\include;&quot;pcap-include&quot;;&quot;..\libdnet-stripped\include&quot;"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="_DEBUG;WIN32;_CONSOLE"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_CONSOLE"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
 				RuntimeLibrary="1"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
@@ -61,11 +61,6 @@
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
 			/>
-			<Tool
-				Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="_DEBUG"
-				Culture="1033"
-			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
 			/>
@@ -142,7 +137,7 @@
 				Optimization="2"
 				InlineFunctionExpansion="1"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories=".;..;../liblua;../nbase;../libpcre;winip;..\nsock\include;&quot;pcap-include&quot;;&quot;..\libdnet-stripped\include&quot;"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="NDEBUG;WIN32;_CONSOLE"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_CONSOLE"
 				StringPooling="true"
 				RuntimeLibrary="0"
 				EnableFunctionLevelLinking="true"
@@ -157,11 +152,6 @@
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
 			/>
-			<Tool
-				Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="NDEBUG"
-				Culture="1033"
-			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
 			/>
diff --git a/nmap.h b/nmap.h
index 20a285123..bc176ef82 100644
--- a/nmap.h
+++ b/nmap.h
@@ -227,6 +227,9 @@ void *realloc();
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #endif
 
+/* Keep assert() defined for security reasons */
+#undef NDEBUG
+
 #include <math.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 
diff --git a/nselib-bin/nse_bitlib.vcproj b/nselib-bin/nse_bitlib.vcproj
index 99c02f936..4a50874c8 100644
--- a/nselib-bin/nse_bitlib.vcproj
+++ b/nselib-bin/nse_bitlib.vcproj
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
 				Optimization="0"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories="..\liblua"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;NSE_BITLIB_EXPORTS;WIN32;LUA_BUILD_AS_DLL;LUA_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;NSE_BITLIB_EXPORTS;WIN32;LUA_BUILD_AS_DLL;LUA_LIB"
 				MinimalRebuild="false"
 				ExceptionHandling="0"
 				BasicRuntimeChecks="0"
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
 				AdditionalIncludeDirectories="..\liblua"
-				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;NSE_BITLIB_EXPORTS;WIN32;LUA_BUILD_AS_DLL;LUA_LIB"
+				PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;NSE_BITLIB_EXPORTS;WIN32;LUA_BUILD_AS_DLL;LUA_LIB"
 				RuntimeLibrary="2"
 				UsePrecompiledHeader="0"
 				WarningLevel="3"
diff --git a/service_scan.cc b/service_scan.cc
index 073594d39..5f0580ead 100644
--- a/service_scan.cc
+++ b/service_scan.cc
@@ -132,10 +132,6 @@
 namespace std {};
 using namespace std;
 
-// Because this file uses assert()s for some security checking, we can't
-// have anyone turning off debugging.
-#undef NDEBUG
-
 extern NmapOps o;
 
 // Details on a particular service (open port) we are trying to match
diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 07b900b31..83213a129 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
+#include "nmap.h"
 #ifdef WIN32
 #include "mswin32\winclude.h"
 #else
@@ -117,7 +118,6 @@
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #endif
 
-#include <assert.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include "nmap_config.h"
 #endif
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@
 #include "nbase.h"
 
 #include "nmap_error.h"
-#include "nmap.h"
 #include "global_structures.h"
 
 /* Arithmatic difference modulo 2^32 */